Hyperbaric Nursing?

[TheAvatar]

How would a nursing student work toward a RN career in hyperbarics?

I'm not even specifically looking to work in a tropical location (I love the mountains), just at a facility somewhere because the field interests me.

Obviously I dive. I'm good at math and love physics. I've been an EMT for several years and am in a BSN program. What should do to work my way into the career field? What makes an attractive candidate?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Education links, testing & accreditation: National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology
Volunteer Internship & Practice: USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber Volunteer Crew

 

[ScubaNurse758]

One important thing to remember in nursing is that you have to crawl before you can walk. First things first, graduate and pass your boards! One thing that most people dont realize is that very few nurses specialize right out of school. The best and most thorough way to get into a special field is to work your way up. A good strong base in cardiac and pulmonary medicine will look great on a resume and help get your foot in the door. After that, I would suggest finding a hyperbaric facility and starting out by just asking questions and maybe asking to shadow the doc's and nurses for a day. Sometimes something looks like it would be lots of fun but when you get down to the meat of it its not what you thought it would be. I'd start there and see how things go. Hope this makes a little sense and good luck!

Jordan.

 

[BabyDuck]

^yeah that. lots of hyperbaric medicine / nursing is wound care. if that's still interesting to you, go for it! divedog on cave divers' forum is a hyperbaric nurse, so you might could ask him about his day-to-days.

probably the best path - just opinion without much to back it up - would be 6mo-1yr med-surg, then icu, then hyperbarics. there are courses you can take to get certified - i don't know if you need the cert first to get experience or need experience to get the cert. my guess is the latter since that's how most nursing certs work. many chambers don't employ full-time staff except maybe on days, but have call staff, so you'd likely need something else to do, too.

 

[TheAvatar]

Thanks to all for the guidance!

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello TheAvatar:

In my experience, hyperbaric medicine involves primarily the healing of refractory wounds. Very little is done with regard to treatment of DCS as it is not common except in very prominent dive areas. The chamber at Catalina Island handles exclusively diving mishaps, for example [to my knowledge].

The bread and butter issues are wounds, osteomyelitis, and radiation injury to soft tissues [following e.g. cancer treatment]. Thus, wound care would be the same as in any clinical setting with hyperbaric oxygen added.

The primary difference, in my experience, involves whether the treatment chamber is monoplace or multiplace. Multiplace chambers can involve issues associated with claustrophobia. I have encountered individuals would “scrubbed out” because of this problem. Ear clearing is also an issue, but divers will not have this problem, as they can clear their ears if they are divers [unless they are experiencing a head cold or such].

Personnel in multiplace chambers will be with the patients for a couple of hours and in close proximity. Some patients will experience anxiety issues – some of these are amusing. For example, one patient thought the chamber would be lowered into a deep pit filled with water. Another thought that the chamber would spin around. Another remarked upon leaving the chamber, “This is it? For this, I lost three nights of sleep?”

Visit a facility near you and express your interest in working there following your nursing training. Good luck!

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi Avatar,
It depends on the type of work you want to do. There's a huge difference in the patient populations depending on the facility. A lot of hyperbaric centers, even hospital-based facilities, are basically wound care clinics that don't treat divers or any other acute patients. Other facilities are full-service, 24-7 operations (we aren't here 24-7 but we're on call for emergencies). If you're looking to work in that type of chamber, I'd suggest doing at least a year in critical care because sometimes you'll see an ICU patient (carbon monoxide, necrotizing fasciitis, iatrogenic gas embolism, etc) and the critical care background really helps. Duke sends all its nurses (we have four full-timers) to primary hyperbaric training at Palmetto-Richland hospital in Columbia, S.C. so if you have the time and financial resources it would be a big resume bullet. If you PM me your location I can give you some chambers where you could shadow a nurse for a day - most are very amenable to that.
Best regards,
DDM

 

[TheAvatar]

Thank you all for the excellent info. I am definitely interested in critical care so I am all about the advice that suggests working my way into the ICU as quickly as possible first. I certainly don't have my heart set on treating DCS cases, but I do want to deal in critical care.

Would being a medical tech for a hypObaric research program be a plus on a resume for hypERbarics?

(I am located near Denver Colorado).

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Would being a medical tech for a hypObaric research program be a plus on a resume for hypERbarics?
I am located near Denver Colorado).

Yes, I think it would be helpful.

Presbyterian-St. Luke's in Denver has a multiplace chamber. Memorial Hospital in Colo. Springs and Poudre Valley in Ft. Collins both have monoplace chambers. All three facilities are critical care capable. I'm sure any of them would be glad to have you come in and observe/shadow. Best of luck!